Influenza walloping schools in South, Midwest

A flu outbreak in Georgia has forced an entire school district to close because of the high number of teachers and students sickened.
VPC

In this Dec. 11, 2014 photo taken in Normal, Ill., Sue Carroll, head of the microbiology section in the laboratory at Advocate BroMenn Regional Medical Center, examines a small amount of precipitate from a patient sample after measuring the sample for the presence of flu virus using immunoflourescent technology. Seasonal flu is making an earlier appearance in Illinois this year and the most dominant strain seen in lab results is one that causes more severe illness.(Photo: David Proeber, AP)

CHICAGO -- With Christmas break tantalizingly close, flu-bitten students and teachers across the USA are limping into the holiday season.

Several public and private schools in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee announced this week they would start the holiday break early because as many as 30% of their students and teachers are out sick in one of the worst influenza seasons of recent memory.

Meanwhile, schools in Illinois and Ohio that have had a large number of suspected flu cases shuttered and reopened in recent days so cleaners can scrub down buildings in an effort to keep the illness from spreading.

Officials in Polk County, Ga. decided to close all 10 schools in the 7,700-student district on Wednesday afternoon, two days ahead of its scheduled two-week break. Georgia is just one of one of 14 states where the Center of Disease Control says influenza is now "widespread."

On Tuesday, more than 1,300 students and 78 teachers in the district were out sick at the start of the day. The toll grew as the day progressed and more sickened teachers and students made a beeline for the nurses' office, said William Hunter, superintendent of the Polk County school district.

"We were hoping that we could finish out the week, but the numbers were just trending the wrong way," Hunter said. "It's just a situation ... where it seems like we're having more and more students getting sick. I just felt like it was in the best interest to keep them apart and get them better, so we can have a fresh start in the New Year."

School officials are getting an early and up-close look at just how tough this year's flu season is shaping up to be.

The CDC said earlier this month that the dominant influenza virus is H3N2, a fierce strain that has doubled rates of hospitalizations and deaths in the past. The CDC has also warned doctors that flu shots could be less effective than usual because the viruses now beginning to spread around the country aren't a good match for the ones used in the vaccine.

ERs SEE MORE CASES

The flu appears to have ramped up rapidly this year.

In the Indianapolis area, doctors at the Indiana University Health system say just three weeks ago they had seen 29 patients with confirmed influenza. By the first week of December, that number had soared to more than 450.

Doctors are seeing more patients come through the emergency room.

"Volumes have skyrocketed," said Christopher Doehring, vice president for medical affairs at Franciscan St. Francis Hospital, which is seeing 10 to 15 patients a day suspected to have the flu at its Indianapolis and Mooresville, Ind., hospitals.

At schools across the country, administrators say they are using an abundance of caution after seeing absentee rates rise.

In Cherokee County, N.C., officials announced they were closing all 14 schools by the end of the day Wednesday and cancelling athletic activities until after Christmas.

Heather Watson, lead nurse for Cherokee County schools, said the district had just a handful of confirmed flu cases at the end of last week. By the beginning of this week, about 15% of students were out sick.

"The drastic increase between Friday and Monday and the number of absentee numbers made (closing) necessary," said Watson, who added that the closings are a disappointment for younger students looking forward to pre-break holiday parties.

In Athens, Tenn., the school district announced it would cancel classes on Friday because of the high number of illnesses.

The closure in Athens comes after Alcoa city schools, near Knoxville, decided to close schools one day last week after 17% of elementary school students were out sick. The day off gave cleaning crews extra time to give schools a top-to-bottom cleaning.

"It takes a little bit of time to do every doorknob and every bathroom," said Frankie Brown, a day porter for Alcoa High School.

Shelley Walker, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Health, said flu is increasing across Tennessee. She urged people who haven't had a flu vaccine to do so.

"We urge everyone who has not yet received a flu vaccine to get one now to be protected before flu becomes widespread in their communities," Walker said.

In Toledo, Ohio, two schools closed early this week to let sick students mend and avoid spreading the illness.

Tom Shafer, superintendent of The Maritime Academy of Toledo, said his school plans to reopen Thursday and squeeze in a couple of days before the Christmas break.

"A couple of days before Christmas break is a tough thing," said Shafer, who said as many as 20% of students and 33% of the small charter school's staff was out sick this week. "People are just down. We've had some kids that have been out multiple days. We're just hoping they'll be back with us tomorrow.

In the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, students and teachers are just trying to make it through the week.

About 10% of students in the school district were out sick Wednesday even as janitors were conducting nightly "deep cleans," said Chris Jasculca, an Oak Park school district spokesman .

Oak Park officials are hoping to avoid the fate of a couple of other Chicago area schools that were forced to close in recent days.

Colleen Barrett, principal at St. Francis Xavier in Wilmette, Ill., which closed Tuesday after more than a quarter of teachers were out sick, said the flu is also gnawing away at the substitute teacher pool. The school reopened Wednesday.

"It's hard to find people with extra time to come in and help out, and we want to make sure we can continue to educate our kids," Barrett said.

The early closings aren't all bad for students.

At Calvary Christian School in Columbus, Ga., which was shuttered on Tuesday after the absentee rate climbed near 30%, high school students will be given the option of skipping scheduled exams set for this week or taking them when they get back from vacation in the New Year, said headmaster Ricky Smith, who is among those who have fallen ill.

"We're the giving the kids an early Christmas present," Smith said between sniffles.

Contributing: Tim Evans of The Star in Indianapolis, Anita Wahdwani of The Tennessean in Nashville, and WBIR-TV in Knoxville. Cheung reported from Appleton, Wis.